Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down The Craziest Small Town Drama They've Ever Experienced

As Adele sings it... "In my hometown..." we appreciate our towns more.

I grew up in New York City so small town USA is not my wheelhouse.

But I've been told plenty of tales, stories, and scandals that come out of the heartland.

(Mostly thanks to Dateline NBC)

Much of the craziest in life happens in towns with only a handful of stoplights.

Let's hear some...

Redditor jvniper666 wanted to hear all the mess and drama about small town USA. So they asked:

"What’s your small town drama?"

When I was growing up in Astoria one summer. We had a kidnapper on the loose. That was intense.

"Trips"

gay men GIF Giphy

"Several prominent men were caught having gay orgies during 'hunting trips.'"

REDDIT

Drained

"I lived in a smallish town (about 5000) in the 90s. We had one of those big water towers in the middle of town. Sometime in the 80s a town worker, who was unsatisfied with his job and life, decided to take his own life. One May night he jimmied himself up to the ladder that was 12 ft from the ground, climbed to the top, unscrewed the man hole at the top, and jumped in."

"Subsequently he drowned and wasn’t found for a few months. I wasn’t living in the town during the event, so I don’t know of any funny tasting or discoloured water from the taps, but the town assures the people that the filtration system had down its job and very minimal human waste made it through the filters. Everything was drained and disinfected."

dazedNdizorientated

Punched

"In the span of 4 months in a town of 800 someone was murdered and someone broke into the undersheriff’s house (presumably to rob the place) but his daughter was home the guy punched her in the face and ran. According to his daughter the guy 'punched like a little *itch."

birdofswag2

Rich Kid

"Rich kid son of local Chamber of Commerce president tries to burn down a homeless encampment, fire ends up burning right up to an expensive neighborhood. Gets arrested, released on bail, charges brought for trying to kill homeless, charges dropped, charged again with lesser crimes, eventually judge gently slaps his wrist and says he isn’t a criminal because he is mentally ill. Whole community is miffed, but not enough to get out pitchforks because only homeless people got hurt."

ThisIsDen

And Recliners?

Season 17 Television GIF by The Simpsons Giphy

"The city government is trying to outlaw burning couches on your front lawn. I didn’t know this happened often enough to be an issue, but it’s getting a ton of push back."

handsthefram

Burning couches. That has to have an even more interesting story.

Manhunt

money run GIF by Juan Billy Giphy

"I also should probably mention in the city, there’s a guy stealing catalytic converters all over the city and it’s having a city wide manhunt for this man that’s just ripping them off of anything he can get away with."

Link_hunter9

Crazy Year

"Our mayor got killed and it's possible to hear the gunshots on a local radio recording. He was being interviewed on that radio, left to his car and got shot seconds after leaving, it seems that he owed a lot of money to someone and got killed, it became news on the whole country, that was a crazy year."

Regular-Attorney-310

Vote on It

"City had a vote on whether to change the school mascot (a Native American with headdress). People who wanted to keep it rallied behind the son of the Native American man who initially created the mascot years ago. Then census evidence came out casting doubt on whether that guy was actually Native American."

scrotdust

The Spiller

"At one point in my hometown a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."


Realistic-Cheetah-14

Rivals

Angela Bassett Burn GIF Giphy

"At one point in my hometown, a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."

Grentain

Any place you live holds secrets. And you place you live (big or small) has history. So embrace it all and spill that tea.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Jenny Mollen and Jason Biggs
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

Actor Jenny Mollen Is Weirding People All The Way Out With Her Viral Essay On Being A 'Boy Mom' To Her And Jason Biggs' Sons

If you've been on social media in recent years you've surely heard discourse about so-called "boy moms," the weird, obsessive, boundary-challenged moms whose entire existences center around their sons.

You know, they're the young mom version of the meddling mother-in-law who ruins her sons' wives' lives.

Keep Reading Show less
Andy Ogles
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

MAGA Rep. Ripped After Claiming That 'Homosexuality Has No Place In America' In Vile Tweet

On Tuesday morning, Tennessee MAGA Republican Representative Andy Ogles decided to proudly proclaim his bigotry on X by posting a homophobic attack on the second day of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

But by Tuesday afternoon, Ogles had lost his nerve and deleted the deliberately inflammatory post.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

The White House Just Shared A Trump Quote Claiming Things Will 'All Work Out' In The End—And It's Not Sitting Well With People

The White House was called out after sharing a pair of tweets quoting President Donald Trump's recent claim on Truth Social that "it will all work out well in the end" as he attacked critics.

As his highly unpopular war with Iran continues, Trump said he believes Iran is eager to reach an agreement that would benefit the United States and its allies. He complained that criticism from Democrats—whom he referred to as "Dumocrats"—and some Republicans makes negotiations more difficult.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Ivanka Trump
David Senra/YouTube

Ivanka Trump Under Fire Over Tone-Deaf Plan To Develop Massive $1.5 Billion Resort On Private Island In Mediterranean

Ivanka Trump was criticized over her tone-deaf plans to develop Sazan Island, an off-grid island off the coast of Albania, into a private resort with her husband, Jared Kushner.

The development will reportedly include 10,000 hotel rooms and villas along a stretch of ecologically sensitive coastline encompassing the Vjosa-Narta lagoon and the nearby island of Sazan. According to Newsweek, the resort "spans wetlands and coastal habitats known for supporting bird migration routes and marine wildlife, which environmental groups say could be at risk."

Keep Reading Show less
Elmo, Grover, and Abby Cadabby of Sesame Street visit SiriusXM Studios.
Rommel Demano/Getty Images

MAGA Is Throwing A Bigoted Tantrum After 'Sesame Street' Celebrated The Start Of Pride Month—And Here We Go Again

June has arrived, which means two things are now inevitable: brands rolling out Pride Month messaging and MAGA supporters reacting to it like civilization is collapsing in real time.

This year’s completely predictable outrage target is Sesame Street, which kicked off Pride Month with its annual message celebrating inclusion, acceptance, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Keep Reading Show less